PETS A.R.P.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 305, 27 December 1939, Page 10

PETS A.R.P.

EVACUATING ANIMALS.

WORK IN LONDON.

London animals now have their own Air Raid Precautions' organisation. Thousands of first-aid poste are being eet; up for animals injured in air raids, and every street is to hav* an animal guaJd, whose job it will be to eee that pets get home if they are lost in a raid. The whole of London hae been split into districts controlled by volunteer veterinary surgeons and skilled helpers, and registers of animals are being compiled eo that the problem of strays after a raid can be dealt with.

Special attention ie being paid to the control of horses in air raids. "Horse emergency standings" have been equipped and suitably sign-posted. At such places as Billingsgate and Oovent Oarden, where in addition to the many horses, cats are important as the enemies of rats and mice; head porters and other market men will act as animal guards. Meanwhile the Duchess of Hamilton is running an animal evacuation service. Poor people can have their pets removed free of charge. Others pay what they can. The Duchess has turned her house in Dorset into a clearing station, a»d has had as many as 140 dogs waiting there at the same time to be drafted to carefully-inspected homes. Cats, birds, rabbits, monkeys, Guinea pigs and goldfish have also been moved, and one family asked the Duchess to evacuate their pet bear which, undaunted she promised to do.